long, low and slow x-53 (7-21 done)

A very good friend of mine gave me this latest project. he bought it to get some parts to complete his bike.

its a western flyer x-53 originally in flamboyant red, later re-painted flamboyant house paint red!

with some generosity from floridas favorite son. my original plan was to strip the tank and paint it to match my plans for the rest of the bike, but the tank is too nice and original to strip, so my plans might be sidelined until i can come up with a good scheme.

the bike is in physically great shape and is complete enough for a really bad ... custom bike. the plan is to keep it somewhat stock (no cutting or powder coating) because in the future if i ever want to fully restore this bike, i can.

so the work begins

50s custom is the plan, no board bars no apes, just a low, long bike.

has anyone had any expierence with the bicycle moon discs from mooneyes?

strip strip strip! whoever painted this bike took the time to sand and and prime each piece before they applied a generous helping of house paint! im just pissed because the hot rod shop i used to work at closed down, thanks economy! so there goes my sandblaster.

i found a powder coater, heres a sample of our conversation

8) hey, how much do you guys charge to blast and coat a bicycle frame
:roll: ahhh... 250 bucks, what is it some kind of roadbike fixie thing?
8) no, its a 1950s western flyer x-53
:? come again
8) balloon tires, tank, rack, springer fork, you know, the works
:shock: make that less than 100, i have to see this thing, this sounds like an awesome project!

so as soon as i have some spare time, im going to take it to him and take a look at the colors he has.

Wow!
I dig your frame. Never saw anything like it until discovering these ratrodpages. Sorry to hear about the hotrod shop. Businesses dissappear ...but sandblasters don't, do they? It MUST be somewhere...

About the paintjob...
I've read somewhere that pro-paintjobs are a no-no in this build-off. Just to let you know.
(I, however, think you should finish the bike the way you want. It would be a shame to not give your ride a pro-paint job. Or maybe you should call it 'finished' right before the paintjob ;-)

Wow!
I dig your frame. Never saw anything like it until discovering these ratrodpages. Sorry to hear about the hotrod shop. Businesses dissappear ...but sandblasters don't, do they? It MUST be somewhere...

About the paintjob...
I've read somewhere that pro-paintjobs are a no-no in this build-off. Just to let you know.
(I, however, think you should finish the bike the way you want. It would be a shame to not give your ride a pro-paint job. Or maybe you should call it 'finished' right before the paintjob ;-)

Good luck with the build. This one's going to be a beaut!

Click to expand...

good point!... scratch that idea, im in it to win it!

black? everyone and their mother does black! i do have that 58 buick silver laying around... we will have to wait and see, and also, yeah, i have the springs for the springer, they are just painted white, i might rob the ones off of my whizzer, they are in a little better shape

normally id be sweating my ... off standing infront of the blast cabinet, but since all the chrome is in decent shape, it has to be chemical time!

buy stock in aircraft stripper

the rear rack came out perfectly, only minor pitting in the chrome.

i got a nice little treat when i started cleaning the brake arm - this was black with grease and i had no idea this would be under there

i also spent time cleaning the paint from the original bolts and small hardware - but overall im about ready to start having fun with this thing.

im thinking i want to skirt the back and use a 24 inch wheel for that tail dragger look - the bad news is that the fenders arent in the best shape, stripping paint revealed lots of rust and almost no chrome left - oh well